According to Community Maintenance Director Kenneth Pacheco, the new park at President Avenue and Robeson Street will feature an archway at its entrance, a water fountain at its center, along with new basketball courts and a small playground.

The site also will have a paved walking path, park benches, and will be landscaped with trees, shrubs and a public garden. The project, according to Pacheco, came in response to lobbying from neighborhood groups that the site should be preserved for open space.

The school building previously had been sold to Dr. Stephen Gagliardi, who planned to convert it for mixed medical office and retail use.

The progress

The former basketball and tennis courts next to the old Highland Elementary School have been stripped. In their place on the site — about 230 feet long and 150 feet wide — a small recreational park is currently under construction.